Fashioned or shaped knitted garment



L. slLMAN FASHIONED OR SHAPED KNITTED GARMENT Nov. 18, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 12, 1946 lllllll'llll\ .l\

LEO/V S/LMAN I I I Nov. 18, 1952 L SILMAN msmomsu OR SHAPED KNITTED GARMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 12, 1946 illlillllil||III{l}-llllllxlxlxlxlxl} mm lllll II ll INVENTOR.

LEON S/LMAN ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 18, 1952 FASHIONED on SHAPED KNITTED GARMENT Leon Silman, New York, N. Y. Application December 12, 1946, SerialNo. 715,704,

1 The present invention relates to a fashioned or shapedknitted garment for confining the body ofgthewearer, suchasa girdle, a corset; a'bath-- ing suit, underwear and-the like and to the method of knitting a fashionedor shaped blank from'which suchv garment is made.

By, fashioned garments, itisconventionally meantgarments thatare inherently shaped so thatfithey conform to the body conflgurationu That'is, 'such garments are suitably narrowed ,and widened during the knitting operation so that they will conform to the shape of the human" torso.

"This, is distinguished. from garments made from. materials which arecutito shape, which cutimaterials are then sewn togetherto form the garment, Itjis alsodistinguished from-seamless garments, the material forming whichis knit' at those portions which, formfthe narrower parts Ofthegarment with a relatively great tension and knit with less tension at those parts which form thewider partsof vthe garment and so by relative contraction'give the garment the desired,

shape.

Where the shaping is dependent upon diiferences in tension, it willbe apparent that after a period of wear and. washing, the different tensions in the courses'of yarnof the material from which the garment is formedwill tend to equalize since thegreater tension will be lost after such period and cleaning, Thus, after this period and washing, such garments have lost: their shape. Thos'e garments which are made from materials that, are cutt'o shape are relatively costly to maKeandare nottruly fashionedior shaped and do not;give the service or wear that isattained with garments made according to the present invention.

The garment, with which the present invention is concerned; in distinction, 'is'formed from a blank 'o'fmaterial that is shaped in the knitting process so thatf when the blank is sewn together there is formeda garmentthat is inherently narrow ata selectedportion andwider at a different ,.,..4 5 lathe practice 'ofmy' invention, the material, from which my shaped orfashioned garment is and contiguous portion.

made, may be knittedon both circular knitting machinesas well as straight or flatbed knitting machines andjis illustratedin this appliedto a knitted girdles In the practice of my invention, I knit a strip of,materialcontaining a plurality'of blanks each of; which. has a shaped panel. therein thatisformed, byjknitting inselected. courses a stitch that. is comparatively short in one direction and combining such a stitch in the-same selected course *and; other course with" a stitch that' is rel ngei l finft f bla m s 'formedfis is .im

description as mef direc'tion. 'E'ach" to ether "sd'that'fth el roni (01. 6651 76) shaped panel will be positioned on the body of the, wearer I with the narrower parts bf ft'h {thereby formed garment ppsitioned where desired A tuck stiteh forms in; the direction-"of knitting a shorter stiteh since it is formed on a regularj stitch, in the combination of which the re'gul'a'r' loop is somewhat longer and the tuck loop'in eiiect has no length at all.- To put'it another way, in the combination, the regular loop'also' is somewhat narrower and; theftuck loop also somewhat Wider.

n he p ctice cube. nvention ere ore n the unshaped portions of the'b'lank, I form the courses of regular loops and in the shaped poi tions of the blank, I includein selected courses, commencing at certain wales, tuck loops. 1 This narrows and widens portionsof the knitted fabric or material ,and forrns in it shaped panel'ssepa rated ;byunshapedsections around the fabric at right angles to the directionofknitting.

In knitted fabrics, each course of yarn is knitted so that the fabric comprises a series of adsjacent. wales referred to as needle walesandjas sinker wales. A series of vertically running loop} heads formed by the needles being called a needle" 'wale anda series of vertically running loop heads formedby the sinkers being called a sinker walell In knitting, a fabric formedffrom thesimplest stitch is referred to as a plain fabric formed from plain stitches. The yarn forming the plain' stitch ofjsuch fabric continues from the headof the needleloop atthesides thereofinto the head of the adjacent sinker loop.- in the specification, the term regular loop signifies only a V-shapjed loop with the point. upward and the sides'that extend down froinfihe;headthereof.

The term regular sti tch signifies the V shaped loop, the sides extending down therefrom and -the adjacent, sinker loop swith which they communicate.

A tuck stitch, is in a sense a defect, in the plain stitch forming a plain fabric but is a defect,

that is systematically produced- The tuc stitchf is the result of failing to cast off the mops on certain pre-selected; needles so that the head of a regular loop is not produced. In the follow ing'description, the term tuck stitchf signifies a V-shaped loop with the point upward, together with a regular loop ora held loopfrom a lower course, through both of which a loop from the next higher course isdrawn. Ifhe term tuck loopiimefers only to the /-sh aped loop ofthreadwith the point upward. ll' e term, d li o i e e o a ens l p: which. ha b en, held over a course.

The sides ofvthe regular loops appear in the same wales as -do;th e heads of theseloops, wheresj he sides M29. tu i c rrerteae hrou h. th

Therefore, a tuck loop in a needle wale is shorter than a regular loop in that wale but is of greater extent coursewise than the corresponding regular loop.

If made on a circular knitting machine, the resulting seamless tube is cut at right angles to the courses to open it and the then resulting material or the material knitted in a flat or straight bed machine is cut substantially parallel to the courses to form separated blanks each of which is then turned 90 to thus properly position the shaped panels so that when the open ends of the material are sewn together, the shaped panels will be at the sides of the thereby formed garment.

In the invention here contemplated therefore, the wales of the material forming the garment run around the body of the wearer whereas the courses of yarn or thread run from the upper edge to the lower edge of the garment.

The shaped or fashioned garment contemplated by my invention is comparatively less costly to produce and therefore relatively inexpensive thus making it available to many users who otherwise could not, because of the cost, wear shaped or fashioned garments, which are considered a more desirable and superior garment.

Further, the rate of production of the shaped or fashioned garment here contemplated since it may be made on conventional circular or fiat or straight bed knitting machines is considerably greater than that of prior shaped or fashioned garments made on the same machines.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be further apparent from the following description and the drawings relating thereto, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a continuous strip or length of seamless knitted material formed according to my invention with a circular knitting machine and constituting a plurality of girdle forming blanks, the strip of material being broken away to condense the drawing Fig. 2 is a plan view of a girdle forming blank cut from the strip or length of material illustrated in Fig. 1 and which blank is broken away to condense the drawing Fig. 3 is a side view of a torso on which is worn 'a girdle made according to my invention Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example of a stitch arrangement that may be used to make a girdle forming blank knitted according to my invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a fabric and illustrating the arrangement of stitches in the example shown.

Referring now to the drawings, a length of seamless tubing or sheathing in (Fig. 1) from which the girdle forming blank 12 (Fig. 2) here 7 contemplated may be knit on the circular knitting machine I4, which is of a conventional type and need not be described or illustrated in detail.

It will of course be understood that a conventional straight or flat bed knitting machine may be used, in which case a substantiallyflat open sided length of material, instead of a seamless tube or'sheath, is formed and from which a blank [2 may be formed.

It will of course be understood that the knitting machines used in the practice of my invention will be provided'with a suitable cylinder, needles of proper size, prop-er chain control for I the cam operating mechanism and a tension'ing device suitable to operate on elastic or rubber 4 yarn, should that be used in knitting the material from which the garment is to be made.

As pointed out, shaped or fashioned garments are formed in the knitting operations so that they will naturally or inherently conform to and assume the configuration of the body. This is accomplished by widening the garment, if a girdle, at the hips of the wearer and narrowing it above the hips and, if desired, at the lower portion of the garment.

In the practice of my invention therefore, I contemplate providing a girdle l6 (Fig. 3) having a shaped section or panel I8 and 20 at each side thereof and which sections are preferably formed by knitting tuck loops in certain selected courses at selected wales, as I will further describe and which tuck loops are shorter in the direction of knitting (arrow 22, Fig. 1).

The shaped sections or panels [8 and 20 are bounded respectively by the unshaped sections 24 and 25 and 26 and 28. These unshaped sections are preferably for-med by knitting all the other courses of regular loops, as will be further described and which in the direction of knitting (arrow 22) are relatively longer than the tuck stitches.

According to my invention, I contemplate knitting a continuous or unbroken strip of material it) (in the illustration a seamless tube or sheath) with a conventional knitting machine (in the illustration a circular knitting machine), which strip of material comprises a plurality of units 30 (Fig. 1) each of which, when the strip or length I0 is suitably cut constitutes a girdle forming blank l2 (Fig. 2). i

In order to provide a mark for identifying the leading edge 32 of each unit 30 and therefore one edge 33 of a blank [2, I prefer to knit into the strip or length of material In, prior to commencing the knitting or formation of each unit, a separating yarn or yarns, preferably of different color, along the line A-A extending across the width of the strip or length 50.

In order to mark the rear edge 34 of each unit 30 and therefore the other edge 35' of the blank I2, I also prefer to provide in the knitting of the strip or length of material I0 upon completing knitting of each unit, a separating yarn or yarns along the line BB extending across the width of the strip or length of material. Thus, the beginning and ending of each unit 30 is well defined by the separating yarns A-A and BB.

Upon completion of knitting the length or strip of material II], which may be indefinite in length and comprise an indefinite number of units 30, it (the length or strip) is out along the lines AA and BB to form a plurality of closed tubes or sheaths, each of which corresponds to a unit 30. Each thus formed tube or sheath is opened along the side 36 to form a blank [2 having shaped panels or sections 18 and 20 to which reference will be made in greater detail hereinbelow.

It will of course be understood that where the strip or length of material In is knitted on a The thus formedblank 12 is turned around into the position illustrated in Fig. 2 with the: courses of yarn 38 and 40, by means of which"? the shaped sections or panels are formed and to whiahmqreedetai ed -re, .e1:cnce..:-w.i1l.-be ma ersub:

stantially parallel to the sides '33" and 35. The

memen o orm-thesir led 6, hcsid s 1. am;

5.. are;-.:then;;s cured m ethsrc pref ra ly; ttha rear of the'garment by any satisfactory .,1nean s.;

qhiasas wi aso hat-thehamanism.J8.--=msi Where desired.

Cqmmcnc ns-z it he leading ed es 32 of a nit iflzan-imshapedrca s t 2 such-a e,-:resul r.-:; o.ops.Mtillustrated; i Fi 4...

. esll anz o p unt l thedivi in ra und ry ne he. .ec ipnfl is then. nit-c mplete y w th ot; 'the;shaped section l8 is-reached, whichdi i s-z rr undary;- ne s co -uous o co rse I wh ch con t comp et ly. o e u ar.- oops Thus; the; unshaped-- =pa,nel- 24 (as well; as all other unshaped panels 26' and 2-8) comprise, courses, the loops 48, of; whiflhthave, a basic;

length,

Uponsreachingcoursei it is knitted of regularrloops4 8 zuntilqfirst wale; 58- (from. left tonight otE-igni) isreached; whena tuck loop 52'is made. In the illustration shown, I form tuck loops ;inalternate wales .in :each course in which the tuck; 100%. are; provided until Wale 58 is reached; where. three tuck. loops are. formed;- Therea-fter, wales. 58:containing,-three tuck loops alternate with: wales. containing twotuck loops.

It:;:will *beapparentmowwthat sincera tuck lo op has no: substantial length in thedirection of knitting 22, the: walesin which they are formed are.- shorterin, the direction of" knittingthan wales .formed only: of- 'regular -loopstothus selectively determine the shape of the fabric byselecting. thenumber of: tuck loops 5*2 inany Wale.-

Thus; the fabric atsthe wales 54; which com-- prise onlysregulan loops (that is, loops oi' a selected basic length) is=longer-than the-contiguous; wales 56 (which in the example of six courses-as illustratedjin Fig. 4 have butone -tuck loop) since they (wales-56 include-loops of a selected'shorter length, the'tuck loops. The-latter wales 56 are in-turn-long'er than the-contiguouswalesr. and 50., which wales 58 contain three shorter or tuck loops and wales io two shorter or tuck loops. The example of*knittin shown in Fig his; by; way; of illustration, since;- it will be recognized that various shapeszmayibeformedi by knitting,stitcheslhaving,the basic; length at the wider portions of the garment and stitches havingt the shorter length m an relative-position to; give thedesired shape at the narrower portions of the-garment.

To sum up therefore, more or-- less than courses containingthe --shorterloops; such as. the, tuckloops 5:2; may be-varied 'with, one or more courses containing only the longer or regular, loops -48 1 and. courses havin any selected number. of" shorter and longer loops may" be knitted in those wales of the fabric in such relative position or sequence as will give to the garment the desired form and shape. In this connection, it should also be recognized that blanks which are ch'i t thes a hsi and-upon reachingfthef boundary linaof the therefrom for-med garment is we wi h; our e n 4-. ba paans i the uti l..-be;-furj2her ,recognized; that instead v of eii qmh natien-ott s a, and .9 la PSJ JFSA fundnleac ne pmc e 3,. tuck-.1 o'ps52; are referably knitted in lter ate wales 56 "and upon" reaching course 4',the tuck loops. are-also knit .in alternate,,wales is true g, 411: r pssi ha es:

erseached? h F gs. 1.1 -1 hea nshap sissqtien i rmtzwi .urses'fifiawh har m dibfj q Di which are he l'o nges suclr as regular lqops;48..

n or panel] l8, it is, knit with ,cours-esi38. which, shorter' loopssl 'chcas forme with tuelgfstitches; sr ila ly arra a d t swaths sire ha ed panel or section In that portion of theshaped sections-or =panels Q l 8., and 20, thefcourses between wales at; C nd/D Fi 401 ar l .plm' ds ith t stitches.. in,suchsequence of knittin that that portion .is relatively narrow. From D to the left, offlig; the. .co irses,of yarnare provided with. the shorter. stitches wales so spac'e'd and. co n;- ed wit n rr tche ma h urse an outward from the center of the'secti ons at D .to proyide;. a, relatively-wider portion-at E; Ii -def sired; this comparatively; widen portionirom to give the shape, to a panel-that is the Walesf which extend into, a. somewhat wider.

section since-the courses have a, comparatively smaller number oi tuck loops-in the wales, then formv the widestsection since only regular? loops. are. formedin the coursesin all the wales and ii desired extend into a somewhat narrowe sec-.

tion in which the. c urses have correspondingtu-ck loops in the wales. In the illustrationshown. in Fig 4, each g roupot six.-- courses. 38 mh p d ibs t en-wh ch a skn tt d; courses] of. regular loops to form the ribs 41; h s. a h h p pane 1 415 .0; s q ed" om. b ke t cture h t e nes t... rom. e us d. se ti ns 04-; the s set; '16-. t. -1 f rss nders od i he: n mber-:- of r ilos;39. v and- 4I- maybe. varied n, combination;

de ired;

Again, upon reaching the unshaped panel, 2d: (Fig. 2), all course-s 60 are; knit! with the longest loops that, is as with regular-IQODS 48 and'upon,

.rea'chingthe. shaped panel-2 0, shortloops, such.

' s; h se: o med; the; t ck, oans 52. arev knit 7 its courses 82 are formed of the longest loops, such as the regular stitches 48 until the rear edge 34 is reached and the distinguishing yarn or yarns along the line B-B knitted into the length or strip Ill.

The above described schedule of knitting operations may be repeated in succession as a continuous consecutive series of operations to provide a continuous, unbroken strip or length of fabric or material comprising a plurality of contiguous units from which a plurality of blanks may be formed and each of which blanks may then be made into a shaped garment, such as a girdle.

By reason of the described construction, it will be apparent that each section may be knit independently of any other section and therefore, if desired, the shaped sections may be knit with a relatively loose stitch to give them a two-way stretch, whereas the unshaped sections, which may be positioned at the front and rear or at such other selected portions, may be knit with any inelastic yarn having a relatively tight stitch to thus provide portions of the garment, for example the girdle, that are comparatively non-stretchable to thereby give to them the sought for and desired supporting qualities and characteristics without the necessity or provision of additional reinforcing or supporting panels, such as found in prior art garments.

It will be further apparent that the unshaped section may be positioned in any desired relation to a shaped section and that the unshaped section may be knit with any suitable knitting stitch which may be different from that of the shaped section, it being necessary only that the length of the stitch in the shaped section be different from the length of the stitch in the unshaped section.

It will of course be further understood that the unshaped sections 24, 26 and 2 8 may be omitted and the garment shaped by knitting in the unit between the boundaries 32 and 34 commencing with the edge (side) 36, a narrow part, as desired, from C to D (Fig. 4), which merges into a wider part from D onward. Thus, each unit ID from wales 58 to wales 54 (Fig. 4) will include in the desired relative sequence, stitches of a shorter length in the direction of knitting and in wales 54 stitches of the longer basic length.

Thus, the resulting blank l2 (Fig. 2) from side edge 33 to side edge 35 and the upper edge 42 to D will be narrowest since it will include stitches of the shorter length and from D to the lower edge 44 will be widened out since it will be formed from a lesser number of stitches of the shorter length.

Referring to Fig. 5, in order to further clarify my invention to those skilled in the art, I have schematically illustrated the arrangement of stitches in the example shown in Fig. 4 with a customary knitters diagram. In this diagram, each dash represents a regular stitch 48 and each cross a tuck stitch 52. Since the tuck stitches are shorter than the regular stitches, the ribs 49 fan outward since they occupy less space than the ribs 4 l It will also be understood that varied numbers of courses containing the shorter loops may be interspersed with varied numbers of courses containing only the longer loops to thus give to the garment any desired shape without the previsions of the separate panels illustrated in the figures.

It will be understood that I do not intend to be limited by the terms used in the description of my invention, such terms being those commonly used in the trade and being interchangeable with each other.

As various possible embodiments and modifi cations might be made of my invention, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A full fashioned girdle widened and narrowed to conform to the body configuration of the wearer of the girdle, having a front panel having needle wales of regular loops whereby said front panel is unshaped, side panels having needle wales of tuck loops and needle wales of regular loops, said needle wales of tuck loops occurring in the side panels iii-selected sequence with the needle wales of regular loops whereby each side panel uniformly changes from a narrow shaped section into a widened shaped section and from the said widened shaped section to a narrow shaped section and a back panel having needle wales of regular loops.

2. The full fashioned girdle of claim 1, said wales being disposed laterally around the body when the girdle is worn and the courses disposed longitudinally of the body when the girdle is worn.

3. A full fashioned garment widened and narrowed to conform to the body configuration of the wearer having courses of yarn comprising regular loops and tuck loops in selected sequence and courses of yarn comprising regular loops, said courses of yarn extending vertically upon the garment being worn, said regular loops and said tuck loops forming needle wales in selected sequence to shape the garment to conform to the body configuration, said wales disposed laterally about the body of the wearer upon wearing the garment.

4. A full fashioned garment formed from a continuous strip of knitted material having courses of yarn comprising regular loops and tuck loops in selected sequence and extending longitudinally in the garment when worn, the wales of said garment comprising regular loops and tuck loops in selected sequence and disposed laterally around the garment when worn, the wales forming shaped portions of the garment having narrower and wider sections.

LEON SILMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

